Stars and Storm breeze it

Rising Stars B and Storm Quik Cash A have a shot at glory this weekend.

Both squads took part in the semi-final stage of the Cayman Islands Netball Association senior women’s league knockout round last Saturday at the netball courts at Truman Bodden Sports Complex.

Lexie Solomon didnt get any easy shots. Photo: Matthew Yates

RS would come out on top with a convincing 29-18 win over favourites John Gray Mixed.

Storm would move ahead after their opponents Rawlinson and Hunter forfeited their match due to a lack of players.

The result is both squads will contend for titles in their respective divisions.

On Saturday RS faces off with Maples and Calder for the division two crown while Storm goes head-to-head with Roma for the division one title. Both game take place simultaneously at 6:30pm at the netball courts at Truman.

RS gave their all to make it to the final. In their semi-final match they came out with a great intensity that did not dwindle as the game went on.

RS got an early and significant edge outscoring John Gray 10-3 in the first period before both squads were level at five points apiece in the second.

Letanya Thompson was a force on offense for RS as she muscled her way into scoring position and had a soft shooting touch.

Thompson had plenty of help from GA Lexie Solomon and WA Felecia Connor. Both players showed good timing with their passes and were not afraid to get in defenders’ faces for shot attempts.

Their relentless offensive surge was a thorn in the side of the John Gray defense. The defense was consistently beaten to spots on the floor and was half a step behind the attackers.

Credit though must go to the likes of Janika Ebanks, Sheynae Watt and Jenrika McLaughlin who kept hands in the faces of the shooters and actively tried to intercept passes throughout the night.

The second half would see the overall intensity of the game go up several notches. Players dived for balls all over the court and let their emotions show with every mishap and passing was more about brushing off defenders than hitting spots.

In addition the crowd of some 20 spectators shouted wildly with every play and stomped their feet on the benches.

Yet the stat sheet did not reflect that. Scoring actually went up in the third quarter with both sides netting seven points.

John Gray were not about to fade away and Captain/GS Martika Williams led that charge. Williams got her hands on every offensive trip and showed impeccable footwork under pressure.

The result was she would be in good spots to score or pass the ball to Jade Lyn or Janee Welcome who helped out with the scoring in a big way.

One of the most intriguing battles on the night was at mid-court. John Gray Centre Mereny Eden had her hands full with RS Centre Marsicka Blackman throughout as passes and defending took plenty of effort and determination.

That would take its toll on Eden and her fatigue showed in the final quarter. RS calmly put up another seven point performance while John Gray sputtered to only three points.

Aside from Blackman winning the battle in the middle, the RS defense also made a final, epic stand. The trio of Brittany Rose, Tara Ramoon and Kady Myers turned away many a shot and never stopped contesting shot attempts.

The real death knell for John Gray would be fatigue. They lacked subs while RS had an army of girls such as Jasie McField, Desiree Brown, Alexis Carras and Karina Chiari.